A Man Who Never Would
by sunniebelle
Summary: After witnessing another death that hits too close to home, the Doctor must make a difficult choice, to take revenge or give forgiveness. With all he has already suffered, all the loves ones he has lost, will the Doctor be able to find the strength to make the right decision?


General Cobb stared up, looking past the barrel of the gun pointed at his head. His hands held roughly behind his back by one of his own men, his knees sore from the hard ground he had just been shoved down onto, he barely noticed any of it.

He felt frozen, held captive by furious and ancient eyes.

Eyes that had seen worlds come and worlds go. Eyes which had seen more pain and suffering than should ever be known. In that moment, as his fate was decided by a man who had time and time again known unfathomable grief, loss and pain, Cobb felt truly terrified.

As Cobb watched the storm brew in the Doctor's eyes, suddenly he knew that he had made the gravest mistake when he had fired that gun. He wanted to close his eyes, to look away from the man whose eyes held infinite power and could end his life with true justification...but he couldn't.

The Doctor suddenly lowered the gun and sank to the floor to look directly into Cobb's eyes. The man's eyes were no longer flashing fire and death and destruction; instead they were desperate and fierce. As though he wanted so badly to make Cobb understand why he chose to spare him, why he had not taken his revenge.

"I never would," the Doctor said with determination "Have you got that?"

"I. Never. Would," he reiterated fiercely.

The Doctor stared into Cobb's eyes, searching for the man's understanding of what he was telling him. Yet, he saw no comprehension, only confusion and lingering bitterness, causing the Doctor's eyes to harden.

He stood and turned to address the others in the room, the ones that would be responsible for building this new Messaline.

"When you start this new world, this world of human and Hath...remember that!" he urged, meeting as many eyes as he could and imploring them to do so.

Tears gathered and burned in his eyes as a new wave of desperation came over him. "_Make the foundation of this society_," he shouted in declaration, "_a man who never would!_"

Knowing that the decision was now out of his hands, the Doctor tossed the gun aside in disgust.

Completely drained, he felt himself slip into despair as he returned to the lifeless body of his daughter. He stared listlessly ahead, not really seeing anything, not looking at anyone. He couldn't bear to see the pity and sympathy in Donna's or Martha's eyes, or look upon his daughter's too-still body.

He'd never expected to be a father again, but, though he had tried to fight it, he'd ultimately allowed Jenny into his hearts anyway. As he sat beside her, he could feel the tendrils of loneliness and a sorrow he had not felt since the Time War–and, since he lost Rose–creep through him.

He realized that he'd done it again. He had allowed himself to hope, to believe that he could be happy.

_This_ was exactly why he had fought against Donna and Jenny–and against his own yearning. He knew that his sins would always return to haunt him, to crush any hope and any happiness he found.

Desperate to remember everything he could about his daughter's too-short life, he gathered up all the moments of that day. When he had seen his daughter smile, or laugh, or do something completely brilliant and fantastic. He tenderly tucked them away, placing them inside that small part of himself where he kept his most treasured memories.

There Jenny would remain with the rest of the people he had ever loved and lost. The only part of those beloved people that ever stayed with him.

In that hidden place, each of them were forever with him, forever safe.

There, in that treasured place, he was never fully alone.

* * *

**Notes:** I've always wondered what was going through General Cobb's mind as he faced the Doctor in his Oncoming Storm mode, and what the Doctor was thinking about after he spared the man. I think this is a bit of a cannon/head-cannon fic.

All credit for Doctor Who goes to the BBC.


End file.
